Bhutan to step up vigil at its border with India

PTIAug 6, 2009, 09.59am IST

THIMPHU: Bhutan has dismissed the reports of presence of permanent camps of the Indian militant groups on its territory but said it can't rule out occasional incursions by the terrorists in the country.

"There are unconfirmed reports of ULFA training camps along the Indo-Bhutan border but not within Bhutan," said Joint Secretary of Law and Order Bureau Karma T Namgyal, who was part of the Bhutanese delegation that held parleys with an Indian team at the Seventh Border Coordination Development Meeting here.

The Indian officials said ULFA and NDFB militants, based in Assam, are regrouping and may try to enter Bhutan to set up camps.

"We were told that these groups are regrouping and planning to come back. We need to be more vigilant.

"...there are no permanent camps in Bhutan, but we can't rule out occasional temporary incursions," Namgyal said.

According to the Indian officials, these groups are in close collaboration with anti-national groups like Communist Party of Bhutan (MLM), Bhutan Tiger Force (BTF) and Revolutionary Youth of Bhutan (RYOB).

"We've also received information that Maoist groups like MLM, BTF and RYOB are receiving trainings from ULFA and Bodo militants in batches," Namgyal was quoted as saying by the state-run daily Kuensel.

"There's information that certain elements within ULFA and NDFB are trying to spread misunderstanding and antagonism against Bhutan because of the 2003 operations," Namgyal said.

He said that at the meeting both India and Bhutan agreed to strengthen and intensify border patrolling and there was also a proposal for joint patrol.

Bhutan may also set up border outposts, to be permanently manned, to ensure the security of people there.

According to Namgyal, the Indian delegation informed that around 30 cadres of ULFA and Bodo militants had entered Bhutan recently from Arunachal Pradesh to possibly set up camps in an area 47 km north of Bykunda, Assam.

He, however, said that Thimphu did not find any evidence of camps there.

ULFA and Bodo militants had suffered a severe setback after Operation Flushout in 2003, after which they were believed to have taken shelter in Bangladesh and Myanmar.